Deck 2: Theoretical Perspectives on Parenting

Question 1

Although Carol and Estelle are good friends, they have very different ideas about how to deal with their children's sleep problems. Carol believes that her son is fearful of the dark and spends time comforting him and making sure he gets the extra night time attention he needs. Estelle believes that if she allows her daughter to delay bedtime, noncompliance will be encouraged. She tends to ignore her daughter's pleas for attention at this time. What is the best explanation for why these caring mothers behave so differently?

A) They have different levels of formal education.
B) They subscribe to different child-rearing theories.
C) Carol has more patience than Estelle.
D) Estelle values compliance more than Carol.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

One of the first modern theories about children's development was proposed by ______.

A) John B. Watson
B) G. Stanley Hall
C) Sigmund Freud
D) John Bowlby

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to Freud, the sequence of development through discrete stages follows this sequence after birth: ______.

A) genital, latency, phallic, anal, and oral stages
B) oral, latency, anal, genital, and phallic stages
C) Sigmund Freud
D) oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Freud believed that all children experience ______ associated with particular parts of their bodies.

A) sexual energy
B) control issues
C) maternal conflict
D) conflict resolution

Question 5

Bowlby's and Ainsworth's ______ focuses on the establishment, maintenance, and consequences of affectionate bonds between caregivers and children.

A) Continuous Regard theory
B) Internal Modeling theory
C) Attachment theory
D) Bonding Schema theory

Question 6

George is a securely attached 10-month-old infant. According to the concept of the "secure base," he is likely to ______ when placed in a room full of novel toys. If something makes him feel anxious, he will ______.

A) crawl around and explore; move closer to his caregiver
B) cling to his caregiver's leg; attempt to get out of the room
C) crawl behind the caregiver; seek closeness with the caregiver
D) crawl around and explore; watch how the caregiver responds

Question 7

Certain "novelty seeking" and "proximity seeking" behaviors are displays of ______.

A) socialization
B) attachment
C) temperament
D) intelligence

Question 8

During the Strange Situation laboratory procedure, 12-month-old Joshua explores and plays with the novel toys. When his mother leaves and returns to the room, he ignores her. His attachment classification would likely be described as ______.

A) secure
B) anxious-resistant
C) anxious-avoidant
D) disorganized

Question 9

According to Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection theory, children who are rejected by their parents are more likely to be ______ than children who are accepted by their parents.

A) depressed
B) independent
C) attention-seeking
D) submissive

Question 10

Anna has trouble keeping a boyfriend. She never believes that they truly care for her and is often intensely jealous of anyone who shares their time. An interpersonal acceptance-rejection theorist would say that Anna was likely ______.

A) abused by her father
B) accepted by her mother
C) overprotected by her father
D) rejected by her mother

Question 11

The idea that children are little more than small classical conditioning machines fueled by learning was proposed by ______.

A) John B. Watson
B) G. Stanley Hall
C) Sigmund Freud
D) John Bowlby

Question 12

If the consequence of a response increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated, it has a ______ effect.

A) socialization
B) reinforcement
C) positive
D) discipline

Question 13

Ruth loves candy and her mother often uses it as a consequence for Ruth's behavior. When her mother takes away Ruth's candy because she has acted badly, her mother is providing a ______.

A) positive reinforcement
B) negative reinforcement
C) positive punishment
D) negative punishment

Question 14

Willie and Harry ate all their vegetables at dinner. Their mum, Diana, was so happy with their behavior that she promised to read an extra favorite book to them before bedtime. Reading the book to them represents a ______.

A) positive reinforcement
B) negative reinforcement
C) positive punishment
D) negative punishment

Question 15

Not all individuals have the same chances for survival in a particular environment. Those better adapted to their environments will likely leave behind more offspring than those who are less well suited. This statement best describes ______.

A) social Darwinism
B) parental investment
C) natural selection
D) evolution

Question 16

When Sarah looks at her infant daughter's tiny nose and round baby cheeks, she is filled with a desire to cuddle and care for her. Evolutionary psychologists believe that the connection between infant characteristics and caregiving behavior is ______.

A) a leftover association that no longer has value for survival
B) an example of socialization that impacts child development
C) a trait that differs for people from different cultures
D) an evolved psychological trigger that promotes survival

Question 17

According to evolutionary psychology researchers Daly and Wilson, which of the following young men is more at-risk to be killed at home?

A) Pablo, who lives with his step-mother and father.
B) Hassan, who lives with his mother.
C) John, who lives with his mother and step-father.
D) Hideo, who lives with his mother and father.

Question 18

According to Parental Investment theory, which of the following characteristics is NOT likely to influence the amount of time and energy a parent invests in a child?

A) the amount of genetic material shared between parent and offspring
B) the likelihood that the offspring will be financially successful
C) the probability that the offspring will survive to adulthood
D) the future chances that the offspring will have children

Question 19

Evolutionary theorists believe our ancestral past provided a bias toward reacting to environmental cues in particular ways. According to your text, it is important to remember that ______.

A) having an inclination toward a behavior does not make it inevitable
B) the strength of the bias toward certain responses has diminished over time
C) no one is immune to the preferences provided by our evolutionary history
D) the preferences that evolved may now be detrimental to our well-being

Question 20

Gesell's "nativist" theory of human development is most closely associated with current ______.

A) Ecological Systems theory
B) Innate Family Systems theory
C) Social learning theory
D) Behavioral Genetics theory

Question 21

Dr. Plomin is a human behavior geneticist. He most likely conducts studies with ______ to explicate the developmental influences of nature and nurture.

A) individuals who have varying degrees of genetic relatedness
B) individuals whose behaviors vary greatly from the norm
C) individuals who have taken part in the Human Genome project
D) individuals who are at risk for recessive-gene disorders

Question 22

The genotype is a person's ______ and the phenotype is a person's ______.

A) genetic abnormalities; blend of neural connections
B) genetic makeup; observable characteristics
C) observable characteristics; genetic makeup
D) blend of neural connections; experiences

Question 23

Matthew is an accomplished guitarist and singer. His son, Brandon, also loves to sing and initiates sing-a-longs with his siblings. Human behavior geneticists (e.g., Scarr) would say that ______ genetic influences will affect Brandon's development.

A) passive, active, and evocative
B) internal, external, and passive
C) active, phenotypic, and expressive
D) typical, aberrant, and evocative

Question 24

Environmental influences resulting in sibling similarity are operationally defined by behavior geneticists as ______.

A) nonfamily environments
B) unshared environments
C) shared environments
D) ordinal family environments

Question 25

In Bronfenbrenner's Bio-Ecological Systems Theory, connections between microsystems are labeled the ______.

A) exosystem
B) chronosystem
C) mesosystem
D) macrosystem

Question 26

Emily believes that to understand her son's behavior she must carefully consider the multiple contexts within which he is developing. Which of the following models best describes Emily's theoretical approach to parenting?

A) Ecological Systems theory
B) Behavioral Genetics theory
C) Family Systems theory
D) Social Learning theory

Question 27

When Jillian was 3 years old, her twin brothers were born. She went from being the center of her parent's attention to a child in need of a lap in which to sit. Bronfenbrenner would categorize this as a(n) ______ change.

A) mesosystem
B) chronosystem
C) exosystem
D) macrosystem

Question 28

The idea that children base their actions on the actions modeled by their parents, Social Learning theory, was proposed by ______.

A) John B. Watson
B) G. Stanley Hall
C) Albert Bandura
D) John Bowlby

Question 29

Social Learning theory posits that children are very likely to imitate parental behavior because parents are seen as ______.

A) expert in how to behave
B) providers of food
C) powerful and nurturant
D) attention seeking

Question 30

Yvonne is a corporate regional manager at her company and also a caring mother of two teen-aged children. Psychologists and sociologists who are interested in the social expectations around Yvonne's responsibilities to her children and her employer study ______.

A) Social Cognitive theory
B) Non-Shared Effect theory
C) Control theory
D) Role theory

Question 31

Darnell chose to be the primary caregiver for his infant son, while Darnell's wife is the wage earner for the family. According to current research, this 30-something-year-old-father will likely ______.

A) suffer psychological harm due to social expectations
B) be well-adjusted and content with his marriage and situation
C) begin to resent his wife for having more social and financial power
D) feel that his masculinity is at risk and become a harsh parent

Question 32

According to Vygotsky, scaffolding describes ______.

A) parenting behaviors that focus on experiential learning
B) social interactions that foster a child's mature behavior
C) discipline that reinforces a child's compliance
D) a pattern of parental behavior that promotes trust

Question 33

When Tiara shops for groceries with her young daughter Lanie, she talks with her about what they need to buy and involves her in the process of selecting items. These social interactions, which help Lanie act in more mature ways, were referred to by Vygotsky as ______.

A) attachment
B) reciprocity
C) sensitivity
D) scaffolding

Question 34

A preschooler failed to put together a difficult puzzle on her own. Her older sister encouraged her to try again and guided her with questions like "Let's put all the edge pieces together first." With big sister's help, the child successfully completed the task. Vygotsky would attribute the preschooler's success to the ______.

A) extra time she spent on the puzzle with her older sister
B) interactions with her older sister that made the task do-able
C) preschooler's ongoing imitation of her older sister's behavior
D) the older child's modeling and reinforcement of the skill

Question 35

Vygotsky pointed out that children learn to perform at a higher level through interaction with more competent peers and parents. He called the difference between what they could do alone and what they could do with assistance the ______.

A) zone of proximal development
B) appropriate activity zone
C) scaffolding systems zone
D) zone of competent behavior

Question 36

Bell's ______ concerns the ongoing reciprocal nature of parent-child interactions.

A) Control theory
B) Family Systems theory
C) Ecological Systems theory
D) coercive cycle

Question 37

When Manuel's 5-year-old son is hesitant to participate at his first soccer practice, Manuel strongly encourages him to "get out on the field and play like a big boy." According to Bell's Control theory, by acting shy in this situation the youngster has activated his father's ______ regarding culturally appropriate behavior.

A) upper limit
B) set point
C) lower limit
D) scaffolding cue

Question 38

According to Self-Determination theory, all individuals have three basic needs: ______.

A) autonomy, competence, and relatedness
B) autonomy, authority, and connection
C) competence, authority, and meaning
D) meaning, autonomy, and relatedness

Question 39

When Parvati acted out at school, her teacher Mr. Wilson telephoned her parents. He asked if they were experiencing conflict and also wanted to know if Parvati was getting along with her younger brother. Parvati's teacher most likely adheres to a(n) ______ perspective.

A) Attachment theory
B) Emotion-Based theory
C) Family Systems theory
D) Cognitive theory

Question 40

The concept of ______ refers to how a parent may act differently toward a child when another person is present.

A) communal response
B) reactive effects
C) second-order effects
D) social caregiving

Question 41

Family Systems theorists are interested in understanding how mothers and fathers function together in their roles as parents. They label these interactions ______.

A) co-parenting
B) mindful parenting
C) parental investment
D) parent effects

Question 42

Aisha's parents sometimes argue, but quickly work through the conflict. Sometimes they come to an agreement and other times they just agree to disagree. According to the Emotional Security Hypothesis theory, Aisha will ______.

A) start to feel insecure and worry that they will divorce
B) suffer from few negative effects of their arguments
C) develop a reduced capacity to regulate her emotions
D) become argumentative due to observational learning

Question 43

According to Piaget, the stage of cognitive development that generally characterizes preschool children (2-7 years old) is the ______ stage.

A) sensorimotor
B) preoperational
C) concrete operational
D) formal operational

Question 44

At nearly 14 years of age, Jillian's thought process is more complex than when she was younger. According to Piaget, the core difference is her ability to use and understand ______ concepts.

A) false
B) intuitive
C) concrete
D) abstract

Question 45

Jackson is 10 years old. He spends hours counting and organizing his Legos collection. He enjoys completing the tasks on his own. Erikson's would say that Jackson is in the ______ stage of emotional development.

A) basic trust versus mistrust
B) autonomy versus shame
C) industry versus inferiority
D) initiative versus guilt

Question 46

Which of the following does NOT correctly match Ellen Galinsky's six stages of parenting with their respective age of the child?

A) nurturing: birth to 2 years
B) authority: 2-5 years
C) interpretive: 10-18 years
D) departure: late adolescence

Question 47

All of the following are included in the Microsystem of the Ecological Systems Model EXCEPT ______.

A) family
B) school
C) peers
D) neighbors

Question 48

It is argued that the Control theory model is best suited to account for parent-child relationships during times of ______.

A) disequilibrium
B) equilibrium
C) transition
D) consistency

Question 49

According to the Self-Determination theory, all of the following scenarios exhibit parenting qualities that help promote children's well-being EXCEPT ______.

A) a parent provides healthy snack options for them to choose from after school
B) a parent enforces their perspective on what the child should say to their friend
C) a parent listens to and acknowledges why the child engaged in a certain behavior.
D) a parent encourages their child to approach their peers and start a conversation

Question 50

According to Erikson's eight life stages, from 1 to 3 years, the main psychosocial challenge is between autonomy versus ______, while early adulthood consists of a challenge of intimacy versus ______.

A) guilt; isolation
B) isolation; shame
C) shame; guilt
D) shame; isolation

Question 51

Sewell and Mussen's (1952) study using Freud's theory to test effects of different feeding histories, such as gradual versus abrupt weaning, on personality or behavioral problems served to support Freud's work.

Question 52

In several meta-analyses of Rohner's theory, the data were supportive of the central tenets of his Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory, but the results did not hold up across cultures.

Question 53

It is widely accepted that monetary or material rewards can be an effective substitute for the attention that children crave in serving as a reinforcement for positive behavior.

Question 54

In most societies, alloparenting is essential to meeting the needs of children and can have long-term effects on their physical, social, and mental health.

Question 55

When Laura yells at her son, Mikey, who is an aggressive, impulsive child, she is displaying an evocative role in parenting.

Question 56

Lihua is very athletic and convinced her parents to allow her to join a volleyball team. As a result, Lihua and her family form many new experiences and friendships as they attend practices and tournaments. The influence of these new encounters is best described under Social Learning theory.

Question 57

In accordance with Control theory, a young child screaming in a public space would be a violation of the parent's lower limit of tolerance for the intensity of the child's behavior.

Question 58

An infant's cry eliciting rapid caregiver attention is an example of an evolved characteristics related to parenting which would increase the survival of the human species.

Question 59

In Bandura's famous "Bobo doll" studies, they demonstrated that despite watching a video of children hitting a Bobo doll, the children were not any more likely to engage in aggressive behavior.

Question 60

Role strain refers to the tension between roles that share the same status, as opposed to the tension that might arise between roles of different status.

Question 61

How did Harry Harlow's experiments with rhesus monkeys refute the view that infants love their mothers because of the nourishment they receive?

Question 62

What is the difference between the phylogenetic and ontogenetic views of parent-child relationships?

Question 63

What is the difference between positive reinforcement and a negative punishment?

Question 64

Briefly explain why the parental instruction to "do as I say, not as I do" is likely to result in low levels of compliance.

Question 65

Give an example of a coercive cycle and discuss two errors that parents make that contribute to the cycle.